Bittersweet
by V4Valentine
Summary: Takes place at the end of House of Hades. It's the night before Nico leaves with Reyna, and the son of Hades can't sleep, then Jason shows up. Contains Spoilers, OneShot.


**This is a quick one-shot of the Percy Jackson series, specifically the Heroes of Olympus: House of Hades. It takes place just before the end of the book, the night before Nico leaves with Reyna and the Statue. I hope you enjoy.**

**Please note that I do NOT own any of the Percy Jackson or the Heroes of Olympus books, those are written by Rick Riordan. This is just a small scene I thought up myself and wanted to share. I own nothing.**

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Bittersweet

Nico couldn't sleep, as much as he wanted the rest, he didn't want the dreams. Ever since his cross with Eros slash Cupid (whichever name you might prefer), he couldn't stop his emotions from overwhelming him. The son of Hades had been so good about controlling his feelings up until that fight, and now all control seemed to fly out the window. Nico would frequently dream of Percy's winning smile or the first time their eyes met and Nico's heart jumped into his throat; the death god's son would also dream of getting a long-desired kiss.

Demigods' dreams often held premonitions or hidden meanings and messages; for the most part dreaming caused problems, and Nico could testify that to be true. Now though, these dreams were easily the worst of them all, tugging at his heart strings, at the feelings he had fought so hard to suppress. It was as if Cupid never left, and would continue to toy with his feelings night after painful night. Whatever message the gods were trying to send, Nico wanted to shout at them to shove it and leave him be.

Now he sat on the deck of the _Argo II_, hugging his knees in the cool night air. He was alone, like how things should be. No Percy around to ignite his emotions, no Annabeth around to remind him of the impossibility of ever receiving affection from the son of Poseidon, and definitely no-

"Nico?"

Oh gods, it was _him. _Since that fight with Cupid, that stupid Jason wouldn't leave him be about everything. The Roman demigod just _had _to be around to see his darkest confessions; to make things worse, he constantly had to blurt out statements of "friendship" and how everyone would "support" him. It's like Jason thought he could be as idealistic and compassionate as Percy could be, but only Percy was allowed to be that nice and heroic. It was Percy's kindness that Nico loved, the way he did actually care, and the way he- No! Those thoughts had to stop, he begged his heart only to be ignored.

"You're still awake?" asked Jason.

Nico didn't want to answer, he wanted to pretend Jason wasn't there, that anyone was there. Nico wanted to be alone, but he knew he couldn't get away with that. "I'm fine." his voice cracked as the words left his tongue. "I mean, I'm not tired or anything, I just want to be out here to think."

"Can I sit with you?"

No, you can go away... or at least that's what Nico wanted to say. "I guess." he scooted over slightly, trying to make a decent amount of distance between him and Jason. "Have you come to keep trying to pester me about- about you know what?"

"No." that response was a slight surprise.

"Oh?" Nico didn't sound like he believed it, "Lucky me."

He didn't look at Jason, but he could see the blond bite his lip through the corner of his eye. That alone was enough to know just how much he wanted to continue his rants, but Nico didn't want to hear it. Nico wouldn't hear it.

"Good luck tomorrow, I know you will succeed with Reyna."

"Thanks." Nico's words were empty.

There was silence; it felt like hours, but it was probably no more than thirty seconds. "I know you want me gone. You want me out of your life and as far away as possible."

"Oh really? What makes you think that?" Nico's sarcasm stung, it was full of venom just as he intended.

"It's alright, I don't blame you. I just really hope that maybe one day you reconsider." Jason was getting more and more annoying by the second, "It would mean a lot to me to have your friendship when this is all over and we save the world. I know the others would feel the same. I know Hazel wouldn't want you to be alone forever after." Why wont he just shut up? "More than that though, I really hope you can find a guy that will make you happy." That was the last straw.

Nico stood up so fast he nearly made himself dizzy, but he didn't care. He stormed off, he wanted to be as far away as possible.

"Nico!"

He didn't listen or even hesitate, he just kept walking, until something stopped him. For a second, Nico thought Jason may have been possessed by another eidolon to make him do such an outrageous thing... but that couldn't be true. Instead he found himself standing there, in the cold night air, with Jason's arms wrapped around him in an embrace.

He was insane, that was the only explanation; Nico wanted so much to turn around and sock the blond in his pretty little face, but he couldn't. His fists balled and tightened as hard as he could, and all that energy poured out as tears. The son of Hades had never lost control of his emotions like this before. Never had he cried like this, especially in front of another person that wasn't Bianca.

Every fiber of his being wanted to scream "let go!" and tear away. But instead he turned around and balled his eyes into Jason's shirt. Why? Why did this moronic demigod have to try and be so friendly and so nice? Why wouldn't he leave Nico alone? Why did he insist so hard on wanting his friendship? Why couldn't he be a normal person and let Nico move onto his loneliness?

Jason softly spoke, "It's okay, I promise. No matter how long it takes, or whatever you do, I will always be around to support you, I swear upon the River Styx. You are my friend- no my family, and I love you just as Hazel does, and just as I know everyone else here does as well.

He was a liar, he had to be. A minute had passed, and Nico finally broke away from Jason's hug. "Just get away from me." he said, choking over his tears.

This time Jason didn't follow, he didn't have to. The words were there, and Nico hated him for it, or at least he tried. The son of Hades fought hard to hate Jason, yet a small piece of him thanked the Roman demigod; Nico would be forced to suppress that now as well, that feeling of trust and desire to hug Jason once again. Did he do that on purpose? No, he couldn't be that smart, or maybe he was.

Nico arrived at his room, his face feeling sore from the crying, though it stopped now. The demigod fell onto his bed and buried his face in the pillow, not caring to kick off his sneakers. Tomorrow would come soon enough he remind himself. After tomorrow he wouldn't have to deal with Percy or Jason or anyone else that wanted to bother him.

Just minutes ago he wanted to fight sleep, now he didn't want to move an inch. Nico fell asleep almost immediately; his dreams were filled with the day he would talk to Jason once again with Percy there as well. Most of him hoped that day would never come, yet his heart couldn't wait.

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**Here's my first one-shot. Just wanted to show off my writing skills, and maybe get some feedback. Also I loved finding out about Nico's feelings, and this story kind of shows me wanting to comfort him in some way, though I know it will take an army to make him accept that comfort.**

**Please review and share if you like it :)**


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